The answers to this depend on the type of traffic you would like; do you just need exposure or is there a product to sell? Your answer to this determines which Social Media tools you lead with; it is best to use different tools for different audiences and a mixture often produces the best results. The first thing you must therefore do is, as always, understand your target markets and audiences. Begin by segmenting your audiences for each product and service range e.g. Location, Age, interests etc. You can now start looking into Social Media tools, there are many but this article focuses on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
For me, I break the top 3 Social Media tools up, in terms of audiences, as follows:
Facebook- Casual, noncorporate audiences
LinkedIn- Professional, corporate audiences
Twitter- Mixture of casual and professional audiences
Let’s quickly review the top 3:
Facebook has over 500 million users and good targeted marketing e.g. People who like Rock music and live in Cornwall. This can be great if your products and services line up with their targeted criteria. Facebook has lots of APIs which allow you to create pages that encourage links to your customers and help you deliver messages in your own way; games are often used as a way to generate interest and followers. Facebook is considered more viral as there are many ways to communicate your information e.g. walls, like buttons, video, etc but as always your content must be worth clicking on and sharing.
LinkedIn has over 100 million users and has excellently targeted ads allowing you to deliver cost-effective and specific campaigns. It allows you to target at a very granular level e.g. HR Managers who work in London; this is fantastic for certain products and services. LinkedIn is less customizable but means that the users are more familiar with the consistent layout.
If you have regular and interesting things to share, Twitter can generate a strong flow of traffic from its 200 million-plus users, which can be easily directed to your landing pages using tagged links. It is easy to create specific messages and target them using the # tag; for me, this is great for exposure, but not for selling products and services. The downside to Twitter is that it is based around text and links, so if your audiences are following many people your messages can quickly move down their Tweet list without standing out. On the up you have your Retweet button and timed tweets which can save you time and increase the chance of your tweet being seen.
Once you have chosen the appropriate tools, you must now become attractive and trusted, people are to savvy to be clicking on any old link, besides you want the best quality traffic you can get and not spammers following or liking you. Building a strong community will take time; quality and speed rarely come as a pair, so create clear and relevant content that is consistent and will encourage returning traffic and referrals. You will need to make a commitment to your Social Media activities, so things are kept fresh; regularly reviewing your content and messaging will ensure the best click-through rate.
To summarise, we would recommend using a mixture of the top 3 Social Media tools but change your messages based on your targets. Deliver interesting and consistent content that is regularly reviewed and updated. Be realistic about how long it will take to build your community and focus on quality rather than quantity.
